Meet The Team

Founder of First Step Group Harinder ‘Harry’ is a property person through and through, he has over 25 years’ experience in the industry.

Under his leadership the company has built up a track record of delivering successful, high quality developments in the North West and West Midlands. He is passionate about making places and only delivering developments that he would be happy to live in himself.

Harry draws inspiration from his travels and has a keen eye for detail, which is reflected in the company’s ethos. In his free time Harry enjoys walking, playing table tennis, visiting great restaurants, and exploring the latest design trends and exhibitions. Harry is a self-confessed design junkie and can often be found getting excited over the tiniest of design details!

A degree in Civil Engineering was the starting point for a thirty-year career in Tier 1 main contracting operating across all sectors. Supporting Matt in the delivery Team, Steve brings a wealth of technical knowledge, experience, and a passion for ensuring successful project delivery to the highest quality.

When not working on the seemingly endless DIY jobs on his Victorian family home, Steve loves to escape to walk his dog Jasper on the hills and valleys around Ramsbottom and attends live music events whenever possible.

Patrick manages development projects for Step Places from their inception to completion. His role is to oversee the planning, legal and design development stages of the projects and provide input into the procurement process. His role continues throughout the construction and sales stages having an overall responsibility for the project's success. Of key importance within Patrick’s role is to develop relationships with our joint venture partners in both the public and private sectors.

Patrick’s semi-professional rugby career was brought to a premature end, and he quotes his main hobby is now enjoying family life at home. As a family, they designed and self-built their home and now enjoy the health benefits and cost savings of 'green living’.

Phil has worked within the Housing Association sector at a senior level for over 30 years as Director of Development and has a wealth of experience in delivering affordable housing projects for various social landlords. He has a particular interest in sustainability and has procured and project managed award-winning Passivhaus schemes across Salford and Manchester. He has also served on the Boards of numerous Housing Associations, previously being appointed as Chair of a large Manchester-based landlord.  

Outside of work, Phil is a keen table tennis player, and as well as being a qualified coach, he plays competitively in numerous local leagues. He is a lifelong Manchester United supporter and also enjoys walking and travel.  

Ryan prides himself on being first into work every day. A qualified chartered accountant, Ryan has worked in property and construction for over 15 years with some major companies, before becoming a key part of the Step Places team.

Ryan is a keen runner and keep fit fanatic. He enjoys a round of golf with a single digit handicap and got his first hole in one at the age of 13.

Being a big family man, he has indoctrinated his son to support into his boyhood club, Oldham Athletic FC.

Paul joins the team having spent the majority of his career in the NHS, the last 12 years as Director of Estates and Facilities in both Acute and Mental Health Hospitals. Bolton born and bred; Paul serves his penance as a Bolton Wanderers season ticket holder.  To escape the trials and tribulations of football, you will find Paul on the moors above Bolton and the Lake District with family and friends or accompanied by Messrs Jagger, Plant and Lemmy through his avid listening of rock music.

Darya works alongside Ryan Booth and Ryan Hoolihan.  She likes diversity and trying new thing, so once she graduated from Accounting and Finance, she went to do a Masters in Education Studies. She has worked in accounting industry for over 5 years and found an amazing opportunity to join a growing business. Her future goal is to grow into a managerial role in the accounting industry.

She loves travelling, mostly with her family and enjoys trying new food and new places.  Any free time she has, she listens to music (and she loves dancing along as well!). Through her interest in South Korea music, she home-studied Korean language to intermediate level, so now she speaks three languages: Khmer, English and Korean.

Steve Burke has over 40 years experience in the construction industry, 30 of them as a managing director at a multinational tier-one contractor with £60m turnover.

Since joining the Step Places team, Steve has brought added dimension to the team and is adding value in many key areas. He directs our team of highly experienced construction professionals, and meets and satisfies the most stringent requirements of any project.

Steve operates across our business on carefully planned strategic objectives. He has achieved ISO9001, ISO14001, OHSAS 18001 Investors in People Accredited Status. Steve is also Construction Line and CHAS accredited for major schemes.

Ryan has a degree in accounting and finance. He has worked in the industry for over 12 years and decided to be part of a growing business. He combines his experience and level-headedness to bring an all-round offer to the accounts team.

With a passion for travel, F1 and all things Manchester United, Ryan is also a keen gardener and enjoys running in his spare time.

Ashmit is studying Management with a specialisation in International Business and Economics at the University of Manchester and has joined us for his industrial placement year. He is working alongside Harry Dhaliwal and his future aspirations are to diversify his skills around the business and work towards a managerial role within a fast-paced environment.

He loves listening to music, whether it be 70s rock bands such as Pink Floyd or current music such as The Weeknd and loves a bit of karaoke too. He is extremely competitive when it comes to any sports especially playing football or his latest passion, padel.